Brave and Strong
by Codecrash
Summary: The greatest adventure awaits on a road, far from home.


I don't own Kim Possible or any of the characters therein. I also don't own Pokémon or any of the characters therein. This Fanfic is for entertainment purposes only. NONPROFIT YOU READ ME!

Chapter 1

I go where you go.

The audience in the Colosseum's stands gazed in awe at the battle being waged before them, watching in hushed silence while joined by the hundreds of thousands if not _millions_ watching the battle's live broadcast all over the world, all eyes glued to the two Pokémon warring relentlessly against the other. This was a moment of history they were seeing before them, a battle the likes of which none had ever seen before, a battle all would agree to be truly deserving of the Norida League finals.

Instantly, the area mightily shook from the force of another colossal explosion from the two Pokémon's crashing attacks and the two opposing foes landed and instantly charged at the other, colliding in the center of the field locking claws as they pushed against the other, each refusing to yield so much an inch to other, locking them both in a futile stalemate.

An unstoppable force colliding with an immovable object; _that_ was the only way to describe what was being witnessed, though if anyone were to be asked which was which no one would be able to say.

As the warring duo continued to push against the other, each glaring intently its will to triumph at their opponent as their auras vehemently emanated from their bodies, powerfully flaring in reflection of their burning wills to win.

It was as if the two primordial forces of light and darkness had embodied themselves in these two clashing Pokémon, determined to forever decide who was the greater. And a more fitting description couldn't have been made by the two Pokémon, for at the moment they two truly were the embodiment of light and darkness.

Seemingly representing the light as he intensely glowed with an ethereal white aura of power, the gallant and ever virtuous Pokémon Cobalt, duly nicknamed by his wise and virtuous mistress, unleashed a wild barrage of powerful kicks and punches against his most bitter nemesis as his mistress had commended, all of which were expertly evaded by the dark Pokémon.

"_**Flamethrower!**_" came a sudden command.

Cobalt's ruby red eyes instantly widened in horror as the fanged maw of his dark archenemy instantly opened wide, suddenly realizing that he had fallen into a trap as a smoldering glow rapidly began rising up from his foe's throat.

Fortunately his trainer was just as quick to realize the error as he was. "Cobalt get out of there quick!" she screamed, knowing full well the kind of damage a fire type move could do to him. "_Dodge it!_"

Instantly calling upon his training, Cobalt rapidly planted his feet firmly against his opponent's chest and then mightily launched himself out of harm's way just as a wild geyser of flame erupted from the dark Pokémon's mouth, roaring forth with a mighty feral howl.

Acting quickly as his archenemy only poured on his fiery onslaught, Cobalt, ever undaunted, expertly went into a series of back flips in a desperate bid to flee from the pursuing flames. In this case however, all he was managing to do was postponing the inevitable. Blazing from the dark Pokémon's mouth with a vengeance, the hellish flames at last landed on their intended target, grazing his right side with their searing ferocity.

An agonized howl escaped Cobalt's throat as he pressed on with his acrobatic dodge, springing swiftly away from the flames, at last evading their scorching range.

As he landed back on his feet, he exhaled a grunt and instinctively grimaced from a sudden burst of searing pain coursing through his body from his side.

His trainer's olive green eye widened with fear as she saw his injury and his reaction. This was bad. The searing fury of flamethrower attack had left him with a burn, one that would slowly sap away his strength until there was none left. "Cobalt, are you okay?" she asked worriedly, fearing what might happen to her precious friend if they carried on like this. No win was worth him getting badly hurt.

Seeing his trainer's concern, Cobalt merely cast the red headed girl an assuring smile and a nod. In spite of his injury he would endure and press on, refusing to give up.

As his gesture was returned with a relieved smile by the girl, Cobalt couldn't help but think himself so fortunate as to have such a trainer as he did. One who would have liked nothing more than to be fighting with him at his side, if not in his stead, than to see him hurt.

However Cobalt's thoughts were snapped back to the moment at hand as his honed ears detected the sound of chuckling, laughing darkly in mockery at the sight of his pain.

With a glare he cast his ruby red eyes back on his most bitter nemesis, Savage.

Savage; a Pokémon duly named by his trainer for the ruthless cruelty and utter savagery he mercilessly wrought on all opponents that had stood before him in battle.

Truly if Cobalt was an envoy of light, then in contrast Savage was the true representative of darkness while he stood before Cobalt, radiating an insidious black aura as he stared down his lifelong rival, watching in malicious delight at the sight of Cobalt's burn slowly draining his health away. A surprising bonus, considering the burn had not been his or his trainer's intention.

"Nice work Savage," his raven haired trainer said with a malicious grin, greatly approving the bonus of their opponents' suffering. With a dark chuckle of her own she then cast an emerald eyed leer at her own rival, Cobalt's red headed trainer. "Want to throw in the towel _now_ princess? There's no way Cobalt could beat Savage in _fair_ fight. Now that he's got that burn, it's all just a matter of time till Savage brings it all in for the win."

The redheaded trainer merely gave a nonchalant roll of her olive green eyes, not worried even in the least. "Oh, _please_ so not the drama," she chuckled with her usual confidence, tickled by the very idea that Savage could ever take down her precious friend Cobalt.

Agreeing absolutely with his trainer's sentiment, Cobalt gave a concurring grunt as he readily took a fighting stance, more than eager to prove to Savage _and_ his equally malevolent trainer just how not the drama his burn was.

"Ugh, whatever," the dark haired trainer groaned with a roll of her eyes. "Let's just get this over with so I can collect my prize." She then thrust out her hand, pointing at her dark Pokémon's bitter rival. "SAVAGE! _FLAMETHROWER __AGAIN!_"

As commanded by his trainer, Savage sprang into action, charging ferociously towards his bitter rival, once again opening his fanged mouth and unleashing the blistering fury of his searing attack upon Cobalt with a mighty roar.

This time however, Cobalt and his trainer were ready. "As if!" the redheaded trainer retorted. "_Cobalt, counter it with Dragon Pulse!_"

Heeding his mistress' command, the valiant blue Pokémon instantly gathered up the power stored deep within himself, speedily extending his paws over his head as the primordial power of dragon kind coursed from his body, gathering rapidly between his paws to form a blue glowing sphere of intense raw power.

As the raging flames of Savage's razing inferno streamed towards him, Cobalt instantly thrust his paws out in front of his chest, unleashing a destructive blue beam from the gathered energy of the sphere, meeting the flames head-on as the two attacks collided in a violent crash that shook the surrounding stadium with the raw magnitude of a small earthquake.

"You can do it Cobalt!" his trainer screamed, cheering him on as the two Pokémon pressed on with their attacks.

"Not a chance cupcake," scoffed the other trainer. "Pour it on Savage! Burn the whole stadium to a cinder if you have to!"

Heeding the two trainer's commands, the two dueling foes unleashed a newfound surge of power into their attacks, each meeting the other power for power and will for will, not giving up so much as an inch as the two slowly but surely pushed their way forward, relentlessly pressing their attacks against the other, both stalemated against the other but each determined to at end their grudge match by at long last proving their superiority over their lifelong nemesis.

Unfortunately no matter how great his will and power may have been, the burn inflicted upon him was continuing to drain Cobalt, causing his attack to slowly but surely recede, pushed back by the roaring inferno ferociously spewing from Savage's fanged maw.

Seeing this, Cobalt's olive eyed trainer acted quickly. "Cobalt, jump up and turn the dragon pulse to the right!" she shouted.

With obedient nod Cobalt heeded and obeyed, following her words to the letter as jumped and turned the focus of the blast.

Instantly, his efforts were rewarded as the force of the beam striking the arena wall suddenly sent Cobalt rocketing backwards with the raw propulsion of a stinger missile, taking him safely out of harm's way from Savage's flamethrower.

As Cobalt landed safely back to the ground, Savage ceased his blazing assault and instinctively charged at his nemesis, confident that his trainer would provide him with destructive instruction.

Seeing Savage making his charge, Cobalt readily took a defensive stance, preparing to meet his rival blow for blow as he waited eagerly for instruction of his own.

He would not have to wait long.

"Cobalt, _CLOSE COMBAT!_" his trainer yelled just as Savage was no more than mere inches away.

Without so much as moment's hesitation, with full furry of a hurricane Cobalt unleashed a powerful mad flurry of wild punches and kicks upon the dark Pokémon, his movements nothing more than frenzied blue blur of violent rapid fire movement.

Unfortunately, victory would not so easily be achieved with such ferocity. Dodging each and every blow sent his way with ease; Cobalt's lifelong nemesis exhaled a malicious chuckle, thoroughly savoring the taste of battle. A grimly euphoric flavor that was all the more sweetened by the knowledge that at long last the matter of who was the better would finally be settled.

"Nice try princess, but hand to hand won't work on Savage anymore," Savage's trainer chuckled, amused by the futile display. "We worked damned hard to make sure of that. Now let's just wrap this u-!"

The raven haired trainer was suddenly interrupted as just then Savage's jaw was impacted with a powerful right cross from Cobalt and sent the dark Pokémon reeling across the field where he came crashing full force into one of the field's boulders.

"I'm sorry. You were saying?" inquired the redhead with a smugly satisfied smirk.

As the dark Pokémon rose back to his feet, both Savage and his emerald eyed trainer snarled angrily at their long time rivals, each casting matching glares of seething hatred. "Kiss my ass princess," Savage's dark haired trained growled with a smirk, clenching her fists as they ignited with a green flame to match her and her Pokémon's anger. "There's no way in hell we're losing this! That prize _will_ be mine!"

"In your dreams," the redhead scoffed.

"Oh, you have _no_ idea pumpkin," the emerald eyed woman replied with the most wicked of grins. "Savage! Get ready to end this once and for all!"

The redheaded girl glared in determination at her and Cobalt's opponents. "You heard her Cobalt!" she exclaimed determinedly. "Get ready to hit Savage with everything you've got! I know you can do it!"

Emerald eyes flared with a determination that matched the fiery plasma burning from her hands as they stared indomitably. "SAVAGE…!"

Unwavering in her or Cobalt's will to win, olive eyes glared right back into the emerald greens of her long time nemesis, the will to win steeled with unending resolve. "COBALT…!"

"_**FOCUS BLAST!**_" they both shouted in unison.

Instantly both Pokémon ferociously bolted towards the other, racing at speeds that would have given fighter jets a serious run for their money as twin orbs of glowing blue light drawn from their very fighting spirits rapidly formed in each of their paws, quickly swelling to gargantuan size before the two foes mightily launched them from their arms and sending them hurling at the other.

Like the very clashing wills of the two enemies that had forged them, the titanic two glowing orbs collided, only to instantly detonate with a thunderously explosive result that vehemently shook the entire stadium as the devastating explosion instantly enveloped the field, rapidly swallowing up the dark Pokémon Savage and his righteous counterpart Cobalt in its fury.

Watching the devastating explosion swell with the spectators in the stadium's stands, the two opposing Pokémon trainers firmly stood their grounds, weathering the shockwave in a charged fearful silence, each dreading the worst for their Pokémon while somehow still safe in the knowledge that both were alright.

As the explosion burned itself out to be replaced by the fallout of a column of smoke, dust and debris concealing the field from sight, Kim Possible, Cobalt's valiant trainer couldn't help but reflect in amazement how her life had so bizarrely come to this point. How in that just under a year ago, she, and Savage's trainer, had been living completely different lives in a world vastly different from the one they had come to know.

Even now Kim could still remember how it had all happened. How it all had began with a strange twist of fate which had led to an even stranger and wondrous adventure, the likes of which even now she still couldn't have imagined in her wildest dreams.

0 0 0

"So what do you think Ron?" Kim asked, eyeing the exterior of Drakken's latest evil lair from a nearby grove of bushes, searching for any hidden defenses.

"Honestly I'm thinking of asking where he gets the coin for these places," Ron answered frankly. "I mean seriously KP, what is this, like the twentieth evil mountain slash cave lair? I mean what with all the digging, and excavating and building, and let's not even get started on all the super evil tech of evil, not to mention that oh so handy self-destruct button, you just can't tell me all that doesn't come cheap. Although maybe he's getting a discount on this one, you know because it's the same one he used for that whole nano tick thing."

"Um, what's with all the audit talk?" she couldn't help but query, casting the blonde haired boy a puzzled look.

"Sorry," he apologized, tapping the side of his head as though he were trying to get water out of his ear. "Watched an all morning long marathon of 'Penny Pinchers'."

"That heinous reality show?" Kim asked, blinking at her friend in confusion. "Why on earth would you watch that garbage?"

Ron shrugged. "Wasn't anything else on," he answered somewhat sourly. "Can you seriously believe that KP? I mean we finally get five hundred channels of pure brain melting awesomeness and there's nothing better on! I mean seriously, what are the _chances!?_"

"Yeah!" Rufus sourly agreed with his blonde companion.

Kim groaned and rolled her eyes as she daringly exited the bushes and stealthily crept their way towards the lair. "This is why I don't do the whole brain melting awesomeness TV thing," she sighed softly as her best friend quickly caught up. "Emphasis on 'brain melting' Ron."

"Oh please," he countered, returning her eye roll. "This coming from the girl who loves Pals."

"Ugh, Pals," Ron's pet naked mole rat emphatically gagged.

"Hey, don't you two go knocking Pals," she defensively snapped with a whisper and a glare. "At least it's more mature than Scamper and Bitey."

"You call the word 'moopey' more mature?" he retorted. "_Seriously!?_ It sounds like something a three year old would say."

"Hmph, moopey!" huffed Rufus in full agreement.

"Ron, so not the time!" she whispered harshly as they began climbing up the side of the cliff side. "In the middle of saving the world from crazed mad scientist's latest evil scheme, remember?"

"Which brings to mind another good question KP, what up with the climbing?" he asked as he struggled to pull himself up the cliff side.

"Yeah," chirped Rufus.

"Um, trying to sneak up on the bad guys," she said, stating the obvious. "You know the thing we always do before busting up Drakken's evil schemes."

"Meh, I dunno," Ron shrugged with a grunt, still struggling to climb the mountain face. "I mean why not just walk up to the front door, get Wade to hack the security and just walk right in? I mean you can't tell me Drakken would see that coming. It's so simple it's just _got_ to work."

Kim couldn't help but stare at Ron, awed by the fact that he had actually made a very good point, but before she had the chance to tell him so she was suddenly cut off by the familiar chime of her communicator. Quickly the redheaded teen heroine fished out the device from her pocket and flicked it on. "Go Wade," she greeted as the face of their website manager and main technical support came onto the small screen.

"Kim it's a trap trap!" he exclaimed in alarm.

"Um, say what Wade?" she replied, confused.

"A trap trap," Ron replied. "You know, by making it obvious Drakken wanted us to follow him, he thought that you'd think that he knew you thought it was a trap, so you'd be unexpecting a trap, but what you wouldn't was that it really is a trap. Oh, he is good because that is just _evil!_"

"Exactly," Wade concurred.

"Mm hmm, obvious," Rufus concluded with a fully agreeing nod, in truth having no clue what they were talking about, but figuring it best to just agree with his blond haired friend.

"And just like that, I have a headache," Kim groaned, rubbing her temples as she exhaled a heavy sigh. After a moment she then turned her focus back to the Kimmunicator's screen. "So if it's a 'trap trap' Wade, what should we do?"

"According to satellite scans there's only three people in the lair," Wade answered, tapping away at his keyboard.

"Drakken and Shego," she guessed. "And the third one?"

"Ooh, maybe Drakken got himself a new super evil henchgirl," said Ron eagerly with a lusty grin. "Here's hoping she's as hot as Shego."

"I'm just going to pretend I never heard you call Shego hot," the redhead informed her friend with a look of utter revulsion.

"Aw come on KP!" he exclaimed. "I mean say what you want about Drakken, the guy's a lousy mad scientist but the man can really pick 'em in the evil female sidekick department." His eyes the excitedly brightened with a thought. "Ooh maybe she's all about electricity, you got to admit KP we've really been due for one of those electrical villains."

"Ron, so don't want to hear this," she replied, all but ready to plug her ears with her index fingers and drown him out with a steady mantra of 'lalalalalalala'.

"Um, actually Ron it's just a cable guy," Wade informed, hating to burst the blonde teen's bubble. "According to his credit card records, apparently Drakken's adding cable access to the lair. Though surprisingly he's not going for the broadband internet the company's also offering in a discount package deal, which oddly enough would've actually cost him less." The chubby boy genius then again tapped away at his keyboard. "As for getting inside I would suggest going through front door, after I get a crack at hacking his security system I mean."

"Ha! Told you so KP," Ron couldn't help but gloat.

"Seriously Ron?" she couldn't help but ask.

"What?" he asked. "Come on Kim, you got to give me this. I mean when was the last time I ever came up with a Wade approved plan. The Ronman deserves his cred where cred is due. "

"Alright, alright already," she admitted with a chuckle, unable to help herself as she began slowly climbing her way back to the ground. "The Ronman gets the credit, _this_ time round. Just so long as it doesn't go to the Ronman's head."

"Oh yeah, score one for the Ronman," he exclaimed as her carefully followed after his redheaded best friend.

"Okay, can we please stop saying 'Ronman' Ron?" she asked with a groan. "The novelties gone now."

"No way KP," he replied with a laugh. "Everyone knows that the Ronman's _always_ in style."

"There's going to be no living with him anymore, is there?" Wade guessed from the Kimmunicator with a sigh.

"Not so much," she surmised. "Well at least not until the next time he loses his pants anyway."

It was then that Kim quickly heard an oh so familiar ripping sound from above, only to be quickly followed by Ron's cargo pants falling past her to the ground below. "Oh man!" came Ron's conclusive now all but trademarked groan.

0 0 0

"Where the blazes is she!?" the villainous blue skinned mad scientist Dr. Drakken muttered, quickly checking his wristwatch while anxiously pacing a groove into the floor as he continued to wait impatiently. "You'd think it would be a simple matter for a teenage hero to at least have the common courtesy to show up on time! I mean we steal the pan dimensional vortex inducer, leave an obvious trail of breadcrumbs for her to follow, and have the decency to set a trap trap. So you'd think she would show some consideration and fall into it!" He then exhaled an irate huff as continued to pace and rant. "Teenage heroes! Absolutely no respect anymore for villain hero tradition whatsoever! You know Shego, I blame that U-tube and their mp3 players, and their reality television, and their incessant texting _and_ their cell phones, rotting away the brains of today's generation is what they're doing you know, and with that goes all civility! I mean people call _me_ evil! If anything I'll be doing the world a favor when I take-!"

It was at this point Shego exhaled a sigh, tuned out her boss' seemingly unending rant, and quickly withdrew her own mp3 player from the green utility pouch strapped to her left leg, placing the buds into her ears as she hit 'play', drowning out the mad doctor's voice with the sweet sounds of MC Honey.

Unfortunately her, halfway through the song Drakken's shrill whiney voice still managed to peel on through. "SHEGO PAY ATTENTION!" he shouted, causing the green skinned beauty to begrudgingly withdraw the buds from her ears and focus back on his idiocy.

"Yes Dr. D?" she halfheartedly sighed.

"As I _was_ saying-" he began.

"Hey buddy, all done hooking up your cable," a voice interrupted from the wayside.

Incensed at being interrupted, the blue skinned mad scientist shifted his gaze to the cable technician was gathering up his tools as he readied to leave. "Well it's about flipping time!" snapped Drakken in annoyance. "You've been at that for over half an hour!"

"Hey dude, installation takes time," the man leisurely replied with a shrug. "You want it done fast, or done right?"

"Oh will you just get out!" Drakken groused with a scowl, his eye twitching ever so slightly in growing annoyance. "Because of you I had to waste nearly a whole day just waiting for you to show up when I could have been implementing my plans to take over the world. Now if you don't mind I happen to be in the middle of a big 'defeating my arch foe' scheme, _and I'd like to continue without any more distractions!_ I swear you cable people are the most-!"

"Hey whoa, chill out buddy," the man calmly said as he slowly finished collecting his gear. "You know you might think about doing something for that eye twi-"

"SHEGO!" the mad scientist hollered (emphasis on _mad!_), his patience with the dawdling cable guy at last reached.

Instantly a green fireball came exploding at the technician's feet, knocking him back on his rear. "You heard the man slacker!" Shego snapped, hands glowing with seething plasma as she readied another fireball. "_Take a hike!_"

Not needing to be told twice, the cable man madly grabbed his toolbox, scrambled to his feet and bolted for the door. Unfortunately while doing so, his foot accidently snagged on the cable to Drakken's latest toy, causing both it and him to come toppling to the floor again with a loud crash.

"My particle cannon!" wailed Drakken in horror as he watched the fallen machine began to spark and crackle uncontrollably before it burst into flames.

As the mad scientist's eyes fell on him, blazing with foreboding raw seething fury, the technician nervously gulped as he quickly untangled his foot from the fallen machines power cable. "Hey man sorry, about your gizmo," he quickly apologized. "How about I hook you up with a 'free' sports pac-"

"SHEGO!"

Not wanting to be on the receiving end of yet another green fireball, the cable technician wisely took his cue as he snatched up his tool box and fled out the exit as fast as his legs would carry him, cursing his ill begotten decision of not staying in med school.

As the exit door slammed shut behind the fleeing man, Drakken exhaled an exasperated sigh as he quickly grabbed a nearby fire extinguisher and tended to snuffing out his now flaming evil device. "Oh my poor machine," he sympathetically whimpered as his sprayed the machine's flames, gazing upon it as though it were a dying puppy. "Poor thing. It didn't even have the chance to blast a lethal can of freak on my arch foe."

"'Lethal can of freak'?" she questioningly parroted, rolling her eyes. "_Please_ Doctor D, you can't be serious."

"Zip the lip Shego," he snarled. "I don't pay you to give me sass."

At this Shego cast Doctor Drakken, the most withering of glares, what little patience she had that day for the man growing dangerously thin. "Pay me? _Pay me!?_ You hardly pay me period!" she shouted, hands suddenly busting into flaming green fury. "The last check I got from you bounced higher than a freaking skydiving superball!"

"Well I can hardly be held accountable if for the occasional bank error Shego," the man lamely defended. "But I can assure you once we've disposed of Kim Possible with my latest plan, our money problems will be a thing of the past. You see, by having you steal the pan dimensional vortex inducer Kim Possible will come and-"

The not so good doctor was quickly cut off by a groan from his raven haired assistant. "You have _got_ to be kidding me with this!" she irritably growled through clenched teeth as she pinched the bridge of nose in frustration. "You just explained this to me like ten minutes ago. And it's even stupider now then it was _then!_" She then pointed to the charred short circuited remains of the fallen particle cannon. "One: this for lack of a better word 'plan' has already crashed and burned before it even got started, _literally!_ And two – and more to the point: when have any of your cracked plans on Kimmie _not_ blown up in your face? That thing with the giant robot, that whole mess with the embarrassment ninjas, those stupid super Kim-clones you made, the mind control chips – which by the way I am _still_ royally pissed about! – and let's not forget your robot Bebe's which ended up turning on you, and don't even get me started on that thing with that walking jello-mold on the train with your mother." Unable to help but recall her encounter with Mrs. Lipsky, Shego couldn't help but shudder at the very thought. Her and Doctor Drakken? _**Gross!**_ "I still can't believe you actually hit on her mom. That one was so embarrassing I was seconds away from switching sides. I mean her 'sister', _seriously!?_"

"That one was hardly my fault Shego," he protested. "You know perfectly well sidekicks are confusing for me."

At this Shego exhaled an incredulous groan, barely able to believe the man was seriously playing dumb on that one. "Are you kidding me with that!?" she exclaimed. "You know Kimmie's family better than she probably does herself! _Especially_ since you spend half your time sending the henchmen to stalk them so you can find some kind of weakness or something, or at least I hope to god that's why, because you're _already_ pushing the creepy factor as it is."

"Well _excuse me_ Shego!" snapped the mad doctor. "You can hardly blame me considering how that kind of information could've saved me a lot of trouble with my Bebes. Why if it hadn't have been for Kim Possible interfering I would have won that one. How was I supposed to know James Possible was her father!?"

"Gee, maybe it was because – I don't know – _his last name is freaking __**Possible!?**_ _**Doy!**_" the raven haired villainess snapped back. "Face it Doctor D, your plans are as lame as they come!" She then kneeled down to pick up a black cable extending out from the totaled particle cannon and yanked it free. "I mean look at this. That dope-head cableguy actually plugged your particle whatever into the cable box! Knowing your luck that oversized flashlight probably would've just sucked us into the TV or something else just as stupid!"

"Oh please Shego," he dismissed with a flippant wave of his hand. "As if something like that is even possible."

"Of course it's freaking possible!" Shego exclaimed. "When it comes to little miss princess 'I can do anything' anything's possible. You'd think you'd have figured that out by now considering how many times she's spanked our asses."

"Shego!" Drakken gasped in shock. "Language. I will not have you sullying our little evil family with potty mouth talk."

Shego breathed a heavy groan as she shook her head. He was seriously pushing her buttons today, something which had been happening a lot lately. "Whatever Doctor D, whatever. Just let me know when Possible and her sidekick show up," she resigned with a weary sigh as she returned to her seat and returned to the distraction of her music, deciding to just drop the conversation before things literally got more heated.

As she played the bootleg she stole of MC Honey's latest hit Shego relaxed in her chair, hoping the sweet beats and rhythms of the song would wash away her frustrations. Sadly they did not.

The fact was that this hadn't been the first spat she had been getting into with her blue skinned boss, lately it seemed every time he spoke the man seemed to grate her nerves more and more. But as much as she would have liked nothing more than to blame Drakken for her frustrations, Shego knew in truth it was more her than him.

At first it hadn't seemed like anything in particular; mostly just brief bouts of boredom easily remedied by a good high profile stealing spree, but after awhile even the fun of a night of thieving seemed to lose its luster, and after that sadly boredom had soon become despondency.

Shego felt as though she had reached a kind of quagmire in her life, permanently fixed in her ways with no real way of getting out in sight. There just didn't seem to be any kind of spark to her life anymore, that rush of excitement she felt when doing something villainous or just generally underhanded, not like back when she had first gotten into the villain thing anyway.

Naturally she had ignored this and had continued on with her day to day routines and assignments, thinking the feeling to be likely just a fleeting moment. But alas this only seemed to prolong this stagnation all the more.

To put it simply Shego felt stuck, stuck with no way of moving forward with her life and no matter what she tried nothing seemed to really hold a challenge anymore, that certain spark that made life all the more interesting.

In spite of herself Shego couldn't help but smile as she thought back to the days when that rush had been ever present in her life, remembering those few good days before her dreams had been shattered, back before she had switched over to the dark side.

Her bittersweet memories however, were quickly interrupted by that of Drakken giving a swift pull on her earbud cords, yanking them from her ears. "Shego quit laying about and give me a hand with my particle cannon!" he barked right in her face, earning him an ice cold scowl which went unnoticed by the blue skinned madman. "If we hurry I should be able to repair it in time to reset my trap trap before Kim Possible shows up."

"Ha! Told you it was a trap trap!" a familiar voice suddenly shouted in triumph from behind. "That's two for two KP! The Ronman's on fire!"

"Really so not the time Ron," groaned the ever familiar voice of a certain cheerleader redheaded arch foe.

Immediately, both villains instantly whirled around in surprise to find Kim Possible and her ever trusty sidekick poised and at the ready to commence with the usual hero villain kung-fu fiesta. "Kim Possible!" Drakken exclaimed in shock.

"Oh thank god," Shego gratefully sighed, for once actually relieved to see the girl, at this point relishing _any_ interruption from yet another arduous whiny Drakken rant session.

"And sidekick!" Ron proudly exclaimed. "Don't you be forgetting the mad sidekick skills."

"Yeah!" boasted their hairless pink compassion from Ron's pocket.

Drakken stared up at the blonde boy and his ever present hairless companion blankly, completely at a loss.

The stare did not go unnoticed by the teenage boy. "Aw come on!" he exclaimed in protest while the mad scientist maintained his befuddled stare. "Ron? Ron Stoppable?"

The mad scientist's blank stare remained unchanged.

"Kim Possible's ever faithful best friend slash sidekick?"

Blank stare.

"Usually serves in an assist and or distraction sort of way?"

Stare.

"Aw come on you got to remember!" he again protested in disbelief. "How can you not remember me!? You guys just kidnapped me a couple of months ago to build you a doomsday device!"

"Doomsday device… doomsday device…" Drakken thoughtfully repeated, mulling his memories over before at last blinking with no recollection. "…Shego, help me out here."

Shego was left to exhale a heavy sigh as she closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration, embarrassed for her present association with the not so good doctor. "The kid who's always losing his pants Dr. D," she supplied with a groan, silently wondering why she was still working for this blue skinned buffoon.

With said clarification from his raven haired partner in crime, Drakken quickly snapped his fingers, struck by recognition. "Oh yes the buffoon, now I remember. You really ought to invest in a belt, you know… considering, well the pants."

"Hey I am not always losing my pa-!"

Ron was suddenly interrupted by an explosion of blazing green plasma at their feet, sending the teenage duo flying. "So don't care!" Shego shouted with an almost feral grin as she pounced at her redheaded arch nemesis, hands ignited and at the ready with emerald colored flame.

Moving on instinct Kim instantly bolted up off the floor, spring high into the hair as she intercepted her raven haired assailant with a wild spin-kick, impacting the woman square in her midsection and sending her reeling backwards.

"Good work Shego!" Drakken cheered as he quickly made a run for his fallen machine. "Keep them busy while I fix the particle cannon!"

"I got this one KP!" Ron shouted as he chased after Drakken, tackling the man to the ground as he and the not so good doctor began wrestle to dispatch the other. "You handle Shego!"

"Shego help!" yelled the flailing doctor.

Barely even paying the man any attention as the blonde boy struggled with her employer (a truly ridiculous sight to behold), a wickedly delighted smile pulled strangely at Shego's lips while the emerald eyed villainess expertly rebounded from the kick with a midair flip as she landed back on her feet, feeling the rush of that long missing spark beginning to swell inside her as it always did when she and Kimmie went at it.

As Kim too quickly landed and the two squared off, each readily assuming a defensive stance, the fiendishly elated grin did not go unnoticed by the redheaded heroine. "What's with the smile Shego?" she asked, swiftly leaping at her raven haired foe with a right hook. "You and Drakken finally make it official?"

Dodging the redhead's punch and immediately countering it with a knee to Kim's stomach, Shego's smile was quick to evaporate into a snarl. "_Excuse_ me!?" she irately snapped, newfound fury suddenly burning in her eyes. "Want to clarify that one real quick Kimmie? _Before I beat it out of you!_"

Kim shrugged as she once again took a ready stance. "I'm just saying," she replied with a smirk, swiftly launching her right foot toward her arch foe's head. "All the lame hair brained schemes… the low pay… Drakken's nonstop whining about his childhood issues…" She audibly shuddered at that last one, memories still painful ever fresh in her mind from her brief time spent as the mad scientist's mind controlled minion. "I mean why else would you be working for Drakken unless you're both going at it."

Shego froze, speechlessly staring mouth open at her teenage nemesis, a dumbstruck mix of absolute shock and disgust painted over her features as deep inside her, she felt the spark that drove her suddenly die, replaced instantly with a dark desolate emptiness. "…M-me and Drakken?" she said in a toneless daze, seemingly rendered dumbstruck by the redhead's insinuation.

This stupefied spellbound state however, was quickly short lived as she felt the last thread of restraint holding back all the suppressed anger and frustrations building inside her at last unravel.

Not even Shego would ever know what it was that set her off, perhaps it been the mental image of her being with the irritating blue skinned scientist – the very thought of which being more than enough to send _anyone_ around the bend – or perhaps it was the fact that one of the few people she more or less actually respected would _ever_ think she would sink so low, or perhaps it could have been some realization that working for such a man had been what her life had been reduced to, or perhaps it was your average 'all of the above' kind of reason, but for whatever the case the end result was still the same; Shego lost it.

Slowly her mouth furiously twisting into a snarl while her flummoxed features seemed to rapidly dissolve, instantly replaced by a mask of volatile rage while newfound raw anger almost instantly came boiling to the surface, mirrored by the violently surging twin infernos of green plasma suddenly erupting around her hands as the raven haired villainess was suddenly sent flying into a violent rage. "_**Me and Drakken?!**_"

Kim never had a chance to react, move, blink or even think, all that came next was the searing pain of a concussive blast of a blazing green plasma ball suddenly detonating into her stomach, sending the teenage heroine flying across the lair where she came crashing against a wall, where she then limply fell to the floor, barely conscious as she gasped to reclaim the breath knocked from her lungs.

"_**ME AND DRAKKEN?!**_" the livid villainess thundered with a roar as she stormed over to the fallen heroine, seizing Kim by the throat and raising her up only to slam her back hard against the wall. "_**That is IT!**_ _**I HAVE HAD IT!**_"

Ron, having somehow managed to tie Drakken's hands behind the man's back with an assist from his naked mole rat compatriot, quickly pushed the mad scientist off to the wayside as he then made a run to save his best friend. "Hang on KP!" he shouted. "I'm comi-!"

Ron never even had a chance to finish.

With a heated snarl and the blazing fires of absolute fury in her eyes, Shego instantly turned, raised her free hand, and furiously unleashed a massive concussive beam of raging plasma, sending it smashing into the charging teen sidekick and reeling to the far side of the lair, where he crashed and thusly remained still, out cold.

"Yeah… not so much sidekick," Shego huffed as she returned her attention back on the redhead still tightly coiled in her grasp, emphasizing her present anger as she pressed Kim harder against the wall. Evermore fueled by her welling anger, the raven haired villainess then flashed the struggling girl a dark glare. "Sorry to disappoint with the buffoon's rescue princess, but we'll be keeping this party exclusive."

Frantically struggling to break free from her captor as the air to her lungs slowly diminished by the vice tight grip of the villainess' fingers coiling around her neck, Kim wildly kicking and punching away at Shego's form, desperately struggling to break free, but in spite of the heroine's fierce tenacity, her desperate efforts were all for not.

Each blow to Shego instead only went silently disregarded by the woman, as though they either went unfelt, unnoticed, or just outright ignored.

Stunned that the villainess was so indifferently taking such punishment, Kim's attacks quickly began to wane, and as she looked to plead with the woman to release her it was then, as she looked into Shego's emerald eyes, that she saw it. And her blood ran cold.

Kim could only fearfully stare into her foe's emerald eyes as they darkly smoldered with a fixated restrained rage.

All the times she had fought Shego, she had seen many different sides to the plasma wielding villainess, but now – as she continued gaze at the burning emerald orbs of fury before her, unable to break the gaze for so much as a split second – what the redheaded teen saw made an ice cold chill slowly creep down her spine. For the first time as a hero, Kim was truly afraid.

Drakken, failing to note the fear growing in his most hated arch foe's features, or the strange shift in his main henchwoman's behavior, let loose a mad cackle of triumph as he stumbled haphazardly to his feet, watching the scene unfold to his delight. "Excellent work Shego!" he happily applauded, an excited gloating smirk smeared across his face. "Now would you please undo my hands so I can fix my particle cannon and dispense with Kim Possible once and fo-"

The mad scientist was interrupted as Shego, not even bothering to turn from her heated gaze on Kim, blindly raised her free hand and violently unleashed massive wild barrage of explosive green plasma balls in his general direction, already tired of the nerve grating sound of his whiny voice.

Drakken's exhaled high pitched shriek as he just narrowly dodged the incoming explosive emerald salvo, barely leaping out from their path in time before they made impact.

The resulting explosions rocked the lair to its core as most of the surrounding area was instantly decimated.

In the waning moments of the fiery onslaught, the dust was quick to clear and reveal Shego's handiwork.

Amidst charred twisted metal smoldering debris of rock and remnant embers of still burning plasma, very few of not any of Drakken's machinations had survived, evident by crackling circuits and frayed sparking live wires loosely hanging from shattered half melted machines like organs from the fatal gaping wound of a dying carcass.

"Consider that my resignation doctor dumbass," Shego absently informed over her shoulder as she maintained her crazed gaze fixed into Kim's eyes, not in the least bit interested if he was conscious or even alive. She had much more important scores to settle right now.

With a fearfully understanding 'eep!', Drakken quickly acknowledged the plasma wielding villainess as he emerged from the rubble and made a mad scramble for his life as he broke for the nearest exit, wisely opting to flee before he tested his former employee's wrath any further.

While Kim continued to fruitlessly struggle against her captor's grasp, helplessly Kim could only break her gaze from Shego and survey the carnage with trepidation as she searched for Ron, fearing for her blonde best friend.

To her unending gratitude to any higher power out there, she was relieved to thankfully find that Ron's luck seemed to be holding strong as ever as her gaze fell upon Rufus desperately trying to wake her blonde best friend up, his sleeping form having somehow miraculously escaped the fiery blitz unscathed.

Her attention however was immediately brought back to her raven haired foe as her cheek received a hard slap from Shego's hand. "Eyes on the prize Kimmie," she growled with an almost deranged chuckle as she pressed Kim even harder against the wall, deadly serious. "It's just going to be me and you from here on out. No more incompetent henchmen, idiot evil scientists, buffoon sidekicks, and half-assed take over the world schemes." As Shego's eyes narrowed with determination, her grip around the redhead's neck tightened, strangling off what little airflow there had been. "I'm done with that crap. We're going to settle things right here and now. Just you and me."

"Pl…ease…" Kim whispered with the last of her remaining breath.

Shego ignored the girl's plea, instead only maintaining her hold around Kim's neck, watching as the life slowly drained from her nemesis until at last her body hung limply against the wall.

A long pause seemed to span the moments as Shego maintained her grip around her flaccid arch foe's neck – until finally, at long last – she released her hold on the redheaded heroine, allowing the girl to fall lifelessly to the ground, satisfied. "This time princess…" she said in a near whisper as she crouched down to the fallen redhead. "…this time _**I**_ win!"

"_Hold on Kim I'm coming!_" the voice of Ron Stoppable bellowed from behind.

Shego turned in time to see – with his ever present rat perched on his shoulder – the blonde sidekick charging towards her, apparently having finally awoken from his little impromptu nap.

Not in the least bit of moods for kid gloves, Shego quickly met the charging teen with the delivery of a hard fast bone-crushing right hook to the jaw with a stomach churning _**CRUNCH!**_, knocking the youth back down hard.

As Ron moaned in agony, cradling his broken jaw, the villainess then reached down and hoisted the wounded sidekick up by his shirt before the swiftly launching a hard left into his ribs, costing him at least four breaks.

As Ron exhaled a tortured scream, it was then Rufus sprang into action, leaping from his masters pocket as he fiercely scrambled up to Shego's hand and bit into it.

Unfortunately for the naked mole rat, no sooner had his small teeth made contact then his efforts were only rewarded by a surge of emerald plasma, sending the little guy flying to the floor.

Already tired of these idiotic annoyances, Shego swiftly scooped up the stunned hairless rodent with her free hand, and upon quickly spying the lair's trash chute out of the corner of her eye, decided it was high time to rid herself of duo pieces of garbage.

Carrying her captured quarry to the vent, conveniently blown open by her recent 'resignation' to her now former employer, she violently shoved the sidekick into the vent. "Hope you're fireproof Stoppable," she said darkly. "'Cause it's not called an incinerator for nothing."

All Ron could do was breathe an agonized groan before Shego released her grip from his shirt and gravity took effect, sending him plummeting helplessly into the lair's innermost depths.

"Ron!" Rufus squeaked in horror before he too suddenly found himself being flung into the lair's deepest recesses.

Listening to their screams fade as they fell deeper and deeper, a twisted smile of great satisfaction crept its way over Shego's lips as she returned her attention back to the nearby unconscious redhead at her feet, staring down at the unconscious girl, almost wishing she could stick around to see the look on the girl's face when she woke up… almost. As certainly hilarious as it would have been to see it, the raven haired villainess knew it was time for her to go. After word of this got out, no one in the villain community would hire her, which she supposed was fine by her. As – for lack of a better word – 'enjoyable' as her villain career had been, maybe the time had come for Shego to 'disappear' and try the normal life thing, starting over in much greener pastures.

As she turned to leave, resigning the girl from her life, Shego paused, stopping for the briefest of moments to cast one last glance at her redheaded arch foe, a pang of saddened regret written over her features.

It was weird. For all the frustrations working for Drakken had brought her, her little princess pain in the ass was the only one she _actually_ enjoyed, and by far the only thing about this whole wretched experience she would actually miss. And as much as it killed her to admit it, a small wicked part of her wished she could just steal the girl away with her to her new life. The thought of living a 'normal' life as your average straight laced Jane Doe certainly seemed much more tantalizing with the dirty evil little secret of a crying Kimmie helplessly gagged and chained up in the dark basement of some house with a white picket fence somewhere out there.

However as fun of a final note that would have been to end her villainous career on, she would have to pass on such a delightfully evil notion. Shego was ever the realist and knew that in order to truly start over, she needed to make a clean break of her life. Which meant no more stealing, no more evil, no more idiot bosses, no more fighting, and most importantly, no more Kim Possible.

With a sigh she then turned and headed for the nearest exit, wondering where she should start over. Maybe some distant exotic locale? Or maybe the easy going red white and blue apple pie flavored lifestyle of poster child US suburbia? She certainly had to admit, no one would think to look for her there.

But as interesting as these new possibilities were, the paths of life are far from being so easily decided. For it was then – while the emerald eyed ex-villainess began to wonder how she might look as a blonde – that fate's designs began setting themselves in motion, for as she neared the exit, a loud forewarning groan of twisting metal resounded throughout the semi-decimated lair.

Turning, Shego's eyes instantly went wide as they locked onto a beam above Kim vying to break loose as it continued to creek and groan, its frame partially melted from an earlier blast of plasma.

As bits of dirt and rock from the ceiling began peppering the ground as the beam – now no longer able to maintain its support – suddenly broke loose, leaving Shego to watch as a lethal avalanche of rock and twisted steel rained down onto the hapless unconscious teenager.

Exhaling yet another frustrating groan, Shego suddenly found herself charging towards the annoying heroine like a shot out of a cannon, instantly snatching the girl up in her arms and diving for safety as the world caved in around them.

Their fate would not become known for several minutes when the dust from the collapse at last cleared, and Shego opened her eyes with a groan, coughing up a mouthful of dirt. "Well am I dead yet or what?" she muttered to no one in particular.

Her answer came immediately via the overall pain coursing through her body, eliciting a restrained groan from the raven haired thief.

Quickly she tried getting up, but found to her ever growing dismay that she was pinned to the ground beneath a good ton of fallen debris.

Desperately she struggled to break free with all her might, but found no matter how hard she struggled it was to no avail. She was stuck but good.

As she then slumped her head back, exhaling an angry sigh of frustration she then caught sight of her longtime nemesis lying not more than a few feet nearby.

Upon quickly noticing that the princess was still alive, Shego couldn't help but cast the redhead next to her the most hateful of scowls.

God this girl could really piss her off!

Not only had Kimmie managed to escape the jaws of death yet again, but – surprise, surprise – had done so with nary so much as a scratch to boot. And as if that wasn't infuriating enough, Kimmie was still alive because it had been _her_ that had saved her! Which really begged the question; _just why in the ever flaming hell had she done that!?_

God, just what the hell was wrong with her!? Had it been someone else, _anyone_ else, she would have just washed her hands clean of them and left them to die! So again, why?

While this question continued replaying in her head as she struggled, Shego at last exhaled a sigh. Wondering if that was a question she would ever understand.

"Just what is it with you princess?" the villainess asked the nearby girl.

Unsurprisingly Kim said nothing, once again leaving Shego with no answer. Not that she had really been expecting one.

Deciding it best not to trouble herself any longer with such distractions, Shego pushed the question from her mind and instead closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable moment when Kimmie would wake up and dig her out.

Her stomach churned, as she envisioned that miserable self righteous grin that would undoubtedly be on the redhead's face. Here was just hoping she would have the chance to smack it off said redhead when that happened.

As Shego resigned herself to her fate and waited for Kim to awaken, it was then however that her hearing detected an odd sound emanating amidst the smoldering of flames and the crackling of live wires, a strange beeping sound that seemed out of place, but still one that seemed oddly familiar.

Opening her emerald eyes, the villainess quickly began scanning the surrounding area, searching for the source of the strange beeping as its chimes began quickening in pace.

After a brief moment her gaze at last fell on what was beeping, and her eyes instantly widened in horror.

There, lying amidst the wreckage was particle cannon, lights flashing and sparks bursting wildly from large gash in the casing as it quickly charged up its power.

"Kimmie if you can hear me _now would be a really good time to wake up!_" she yelled to the redhead, recognizing an impending explosion when she saw.

Kim merely remained where she lay, peacefully lost in the depths of unconsciousness and utterly unaware.

Desperately, Shego flared her plasma to melt the steel girders pinning her down, but it was too late. In a single second the cannon exploded, and everything went white.

0 0 0

A warm gentle breeze blew through the open fields of the Middletown Coral, casting an illusion of lustrous waves of green leisurely cascading through the tall grass.

As the calming winds gently carried the soothing sounds of leaves rustling from the swaying branches of the nearby woods, Professor Anne Possible couldn't help but exhale a contented sigh as she set down her tablet pad on the café style table before her and took a sip of her lemonade, momentarily pausing from her research as she closed her eyes and allowed herself to drink in the serenity of the moment while basking in the cool shade of the veranda.

Opening her eyes, Anne's focus idly drifted outwards towards the wide open space of the coral, lazily gazing off into the distance towards… well, nothing at all in particular really as her thoughts couldn't help but drift to her two sons Jim and Tim, wondering as any mother would how the two boys were fairing.

It had only been just over a month since the duo had left and set out on their journey, and their absence was being felt just as strongly now as it had been then, as was evident by the general peace and quiet that had befallen the laboratory on the day of their departure.

Taking another sip of her lemonade, Anne couldn't help but chuckle in spite of herself as she reflected nostalgically on some of the more impressive antics her sons had gotten into over the years around the lab from their science fair project of a Pokémon speech translator – which had somehow subsequently knocked out the power across half of Norida – to the incident that would forever infamously be known throughout Middletown as the ill fated 'running of the Rhyhorn'.

Anne couldn't help but shudder at the memory of that last one. It had taken three months to get that orange dye off, _six_ for her poor husband who had had the misfortune at being at ground zero.

Fortunately no one had been hurt in any of those incidents, although there had been a few words to be said over half the town's populace resembling walking creamsicles. Notably none of which would have made it under a PG-13 rating.

Still, despite her sons' past antics the red headed professor smiled with pride. In the span of just five weeks, both Jim and Tim had already earned three badges and had made it to Yamanouchi City, putting them leaps and bounds ahead of both her and James when they had first started out on their own journeys.

As she wondered how the boys were fairing at the moment, hoping they were at least eating right, it was then her thoughts were snapped back to the present as she felt the baby kick, quickly bringing her hand to the distended bulge of her tummy and a big smile to her face.

This seemed to be become quite the trend lately; the baby happily kicking up a storm whenever Anne's thoughts turned to her younger days traveling on her journey, dreaming of being a Pokémon master.

Her smile grew as she thought of her husband's reaction when she had it mentioned to him. James had laughed and given her a loving hug before proudly prophesying that that just meant that the baby already wanted to be a Pokémon Professor just like his old man.

Immediately she rolled her eyes at the memory, more specifically the word 'his' in that last part.

While Anne loved her husband dearly and knew that he was rooting for their third child to be a boy, she was not quite as enthusiastic. No, what she wanted was a little girl.

Sigh.

A little girl…

Smiling from ear to ear Anne leaned back in her chair as she closed her eyes and exhaled a wishful sigh as she envisioned a little giggling mini version of herself in her mind, complete with red pigtails, sparkling blue eyes, and the most adorable freckles she had ever seen.

Once again she exhaled a sigh as she reopened her eyes, now more eager than ever to find out just what her baby was. Whatever it was going to be, if the kicking was any indication the baby was definitely going to be a Possible, _that_ was for certain. And that being said both her and her husband would love it with all their hearts. Whether it was a boy _or_ – fingers crossed – a girl.

Nevertheless, Anne's hand slowly slipped over her stomach as she silently pleaded to whatever benevolent higher power that may have been listening for it to be a girl.

It was then, as she concluded in her little wish, that Vivian Porter – her and James' newest assistant – came bolting out from the lab and onto the veranda and sprinting out into the open fields of the coral, fleeing the scene as fast as her legs could carry her.

Anne arched a curious eyebrow as she watched the blonde continued to race across the fields, wondering just what had gotten into the girl.

"_**Come back here you little-!**_" suddenly came a shout from inside the lab.

Anne's question was immediately answered as she turned to the door in time to see yet another Vivian Porter suddenly came bursting out onto the veranda, glaring bloody murder as her gaze quickly locked onto her fleeing counterpart. "_**You can run but you can't hide forever!**_" she shouted, shaking her fist at her escaping self.

In response to this, her double immediately came to a screeching halt to turn and blow Vivian a taunting raspberry.

Seething, Vivian's face bowled with Tamato Berry red as her double then resumed in her escape.

As poor Vivian stood at the veranda's edge, a small chuckle escaped the redheaded professor. "You know he probably can," she said. "Hide forever I mean."

Not realizing she hadn't been alone, Vivian immediately spun, startled, her face maintaining its crimson hue, though this time from embarrassment than anger. "P-p-professor!" she stammered. "I-I-he-he-!"

"Oh, no need to explain Vivian," Anne chuckled. "Here, why don't you grab something from the vending machine and join me for a little break. My treat."

With a relieved sigh Vivian quickly nodded, graciously accepting the offer. "Th-thank you professor. I- hey wait, isn't the vending machine free here?"

Anne nodded with an impish wry smile. "And that's why it's my treat."

With a laugh Vivian quickly went over to the nearby machine, retrieved a soda and joined the professor, relieved she wasn't in any trouble.

As the blonde girl took the seat across from her, Anne welcomed the girl with a warm smile, more than happy for the company. "So… how are you liking the job so far?" she asked. "Well, aside from the obvious I mean."

In spite of the recent speed bump with a certain pest of a Pokémon, Vivian positively beamed with happiness. "I absolutely love it here," she exclaimed excitedly, a glowing smile spread from ear to ear. "I mean there's just so many different kinds of Pokémon, and then there's the research you're doing here Professor. It's so absolutely incredible!"

Anne couldn't help but smile at the young woman's enthusiasm, finding it a real breath of fresh air.

Since being brought on three weeks ago, Vivian had proven herself to be a true godsend.

Back when she and James had first taken over the lab, they had cycled through numerous assistants over the years, too many to count really, with the two professors either being forced to dismiss them due to incompetence, misconduct, etc, or simply to have them just up and quit, unable to cope with the monkeyshines of their twin sons, the aforementioned 'running of the Rhyhorns' incident being a prime example.

In the end they had been finally forced to give up looking about five years ago, ultimately conceding to the fact that more help around the lab was simply not in the cards for them. Not that was really a problem since both were more than adept in handling the workload – not to mention their wayward children.

That however, had all changed when Anne had gotten pregnant.

With both professors realizing that they would soon be juggling both work and baby duties, and with the boys soon set to go off on their journey and out of the house, both James and Anne had realized that it was time to start looking for an assistant yet again.

And after months of frustrating, seemingly unending interview after mind numbing interview, they had finally found the diamond in the rough that was Vivian Porter.

Looking back now, Anne was ashamed to admit it, but when she first saw the young woman's resume amongst all the other applicants', her first thought was to delete the blonde's application immediately and wash her hands of the poor girl.

Vivian Porter was a name spoken in infamy amongst the Pokémon research community, having been blackballed by her last employer Professor Finn after firing her for plagiarizing his ground breaking research as her own.

Fortunately James had been the voice of reason that day and had convinced his wife that they should grant the girl an interview, stating he had once had the displeasure of working with Professor Finn and knew for a fact the man was about as incompetent at his job as they came.

Now sitting across from the smiling young woman, Anne had never been so glad she had been so wrong.

The Pokémon all simply adored the blonde, and to be frank the feeling was mutual. Vivian was one of the most hardworking, insightful, and brilliant people both Anne and her husband had ever had the pleasure work with, despite her initial reservations.

"So Vivian… dare I even ask what he got away with this time?" Anne ventured, returning to the present as she took another sip of her drink.

The smile on the blonde's face soured a little at the thought of her escaped imposter. "He swiped one of the TMs we got in yesterday from Kalos," she replied nervously. "I think it was number forty six."

"'Thief' huh, well that just seems redundant," Anne couldn't help but reflect with a chuckle.

"I'm so sorry professor, he was you and he-he-!"the blonde stammered, her face flaring bright red in a mixture of humiliation and anger.

"Oh don't apologize dear," Anne dismissed with a sigh, easily guessing just what else the little scoundrel had pulled during his latest heist. "He's been pulling stunts like that since he could walk, believe me when I say we've _all_ been there."

Somewhat relieved to hear that, the color in the blonde's face faded a little. "Really professor?" she asked.

Anne nodded. "Really. Just be glad you started after the boys left, otherwise you _really_ would've had some problems."

At this an almost sly smile spread across Vivian's face. "Oh _boys_ I can handle," she replied with a giggle.

Noting the blonde bombshell's curvaceous figure clad in the usual tube top and miniskirt, coupled with the girl's brilliance, there was no doubt in Anne's mind that Vivian was right. Poor Jim and Tim wouldn't have stood a chance.

It was at that moment however that her baby suddenly gave a sharp kick, eliciting a surprised yelp.

"Professor Possible are you alright?" Vivian immediately asked, worriedly getting up.

"Oh I'm fine dear," the red headed professor giggled, gently rubbing her belly. "The baby's just at it again."

"Oh," Vivian replied with a big relieved sigh as she sat back down again.

Anne couldn't help but giggle at the girl's anxiety. "I swear Vivian you're almost as bad as poor James," she chuckled, shaking her head.

"Sorry, professor," the girl apologized sheepishly. "Pokémon I'm used to, but babies… well, not so much."

"Don't worry dear, I was the same way back when I was pregnant with the boys, it's perfectly normal," she assured with another chuckle. "But will you _please_ just call me Anne already? The whole 'professor' thing isn't really necessary."

Vivian blushed. "Sorry Prof- er, I mean Anne."

"That's better dear," she chuckled before taking another sip of her lemonade, only to once again exhale startled yelp as her baby began kicked again, this time hard.

"Prof- er, Anne are you alright?"

Anne nodded as she exhaled a breath she hadn't even realized she had been holding. "Yes, I'm fine," she replied, hiding her nervousness. For whatever reason the baby had really started kicking up a storm.

It was then that both women noticed something amiss, namely squawks and yelps of the Pokémon that had lounging about in the open fields, as they suddenly began scurrying fearfully into the nearby forest.

But what really drew their attention was Vivian's doppelganger suddenly sprinting out of the forest towards them, a look of panic painted over his false face.

Speedily it bounded onto the veranda, and before either woman could react suddenly seized them both by the wrists and dragged them both inside.

"Hey!" Vivian shouted as she tried pulling free from her double. "Just what do you think you're-"

Without warning the blonde haired assistant was suddenly cut off by the deafening boom of a massive explosion as a blinding flash white light suddenly blotted out everything from sight and for a brief second chaos reigned supreme.

And then only silence remained, leaving both women and their Pokémon savior to stagger to their feet, each exhaling a groan of discomfort.

"Vivian are you alright?" Anne asked, worriedly turning to the blonde.

Vivian nodded. "I'm alright," she replied a little hazily, her vision somewhat blurred by the sudden flash. "You?"

Nervously, Ann placed her hand over her pregnant tummy, feeling to see if any harm had been done only to quickly be rewarded by a kick from the baby inside. "I think so," she replied, breathing a sigh of relief before then turning to the imposter Vivian. "And how about you?"

The fake Vivian merely exhaled a snicker and gave a nonchalant shrug as he brushed some grit from his shoulders, eliciting an eye roll from the real Vivian.

Relieved that their resident mischief maker hadn't been harmed, Anne then turned her attention to finding out what had just happened and headed back outside, only to have her eyes bulge and jaw drop as she turned her gaze on the coral.

The once lush green coral had been decimated by a heavy barrage of large chunks of concrete, twisted iron girders and the mangled fragments of heavy machinery, all strewn about the field in a massive pile of debris.

"Whoa," was all Vivian could say as she joined the professor back on the veranda, stunned by the destruction spread out before them.

Anne for her part could only nod in agreement as she continued to stare in shock at piles of rubble now marring the field.

However, the redhead's shock quickly gave way to sheer horror as her gaze quickly fell on the gruesome sight of two bodies amidst the wreckage, both lying deathly still in a pool of blood.

**Author's notes.**

Okay I'll make this simple folks. This story is basically something I've been toying around with on the back burner for awhile now, with me just adding a paragraph here and there while I dealt with writer's block for my other stuff, which after about three years I finally got around to finishing the first chapter. Anyway the point is that I already have other stuff on my plate that requires my attention, and I don't want to waste my time on writing something that no one cares about, so if this chapter gets enough reviews, say in the neighborhood 7 to 10 reviews I'll get more serious about writing it and continue with the story. If not I'll discontinue it.

_**THAT'S RIGHT!**_ _**I'M HOLDING MY OWN FANFIC HOSTAGE PEOPLE! CUE THE DIABOLICAL LAUGHTER!**_

Codecrash out.

Love, peace and chicken grease.

Oh, and yes. I am this crazy.


End file.
